Weeder



Nov. 16 1926. 1,607,129 c. L. KEY

WEEDER Filed March 24, 1 25 2 sheets-shat 1 IN VEN TOR.

BY fy ATT RNEY.

Nov. 16,1926. 1,607,129

C. L. KEY

wmmmn Filed March 24', 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. [1400: Z //fy ATTORNE Y.

I wheel assembly.

,Patented Nov. 16 19 26 tanlem" ama "r E 'l CLAUDE 1.. KEY, or Minnow;esteem.

wnizinzan.

, I LApplication filed. March :24; 1925. wsertiaiiro. 17,812.-

This invention relates to weeders and has provide a weeder havasone. ofits objects to cleaning the ing a semi-automatic meansfor blade ofweeds. I I 7 Another object of the invention is to provide a weeder thatmay be easily adjusted asto, cutting depth, and maintained rigidly inthe cutting position; i f

I A further obj ect of the invention is to provide a weeder that may beoperated as a single section and that is equally applicable for use whencoupled with other sections.

A further object of the invention is to provide'a weeder that may bemounted on ,wheels to afford lightdratt, and having draft device that isan essential part of its operating mechanism.

A further object of the invention isto provide weeder whose blade may becleaned with or without stopping the machine, and without leaving askip, oruncleaned portion of the soil. Y

A further object of provide a weeder that has light draft and that iseasy to operate.

. With these and other objects in view reference is now. had to theaccompanying drawings in which 1 j F 1g. 11s a plan view of the weeder,and

sh ws the methodof connecting onesection.

with another when two sections are used t0.-

gether; q r v n Fig. 2; is a section onthe line 2-2 of Fig.1. V J v Fig.3 is a similar view to FlgJQrbll-t showingfthe' blade adjustment; i

Fig, 4 is a similar view to Fig.2 but showing the weeder in a positionforele'aning. the, blade; 7 l 3 i Fig. 5 shows a perspective view ofdetails of thecoupling used seth r; a

Fig. 6 1s a front 'isectional v'iewot the Having reference to thedrawings like numerals refertoklike parts throughout the several, viewsand the numeral -1 ;r'e1":-ers;to. ltheiweeder which is composed in ageneral v way ofta beam; section 2, 21 draft'device 3,

' and a'trailer 4.

n 'Specifically'the beam section comprises a beam 5 which is extendedthefullfllength of 1 the 1 section and L is preferably of tubular holdthe wheels the invention. isto ,necksl l which carry a cutting blade 15in ditions to be blade being rigidlvattaohed to the; beam to join 1 two7 sections toj blade,;the latter ing the blade;

center of the cross section,- as shown plainly in the perspective viewof Fig. 5.

The beam is hlJZOIlhElllY supportedjby-"f wheels .6, or other means, andthese are 5 spaeedapart to support the beam in a genorallyparallelfposition with; respect to the: surface of the ground' overwhich it. travels.

The wheels are mounted on the beam and rotatebetweencollars 7 .that aresecuredto the beam in any ,suitable manner, and whieh b a -t J As thereis much dust arising .dur'ingthe operation of the iweeder a cover 8; isjprovided vto cover the bearing portion of the wheel, and the cover istightly fastenedtothe beam by a cord or 'wire 9 and is loosely drawn inaboutthe hub 10 by a similar wire in a manner to permit the wheel'torotate withoutafiectin the cover; i

The hub is he low, as at 11-, and a grease clip 19 is provided-wherewithto keep the:

hub filled with grease and a felt gasket 13 is added between; the collarand the hub to prevent the exudation of the grease.

. Rigidly attachedto the beam 5 are'go'osea 7 position parallel ts thebeam: and the goosenecks are so designed as to position the blade a'ditanoe from the beamthat when.

the blade is directly beneath the beam, as shown i113, it willbe at itsmaximum cutting distance in the soil. j r

I Thebeam is rotatable under certain conherein-after explained, and thein their proper place on the ultimately bringing it out of the soil iteee 'sar-y a gRi'gidly attached to the beam,@preerably adjacent to thewheels are uprights l6, and

these uprights extendabove andbelow the;

bearn and have their lower-ends 1'? advanced off center, i. e. ,on abouta quarter of a, circle, in a position approximately perpendicu lar'tothe- -rearwardly eX- tending bars 18 of the draft device 3, with whichbar the end 17 is pivotally connected at the pivotal point 17 Thepurpose of this advance of the pivotal point is to provide for am lethrow of the upright, and as this princip e is well known in the artfurther description is deemed unnecessary. i

The draft means 3 consists of bars 18 that extend rearwardly topivotally engage thelower end of the uprights, as above mentioned, andthese bars meet at a common center to be engaged at that point by a kingbolt 19.

The bars carry a guard 20 through which the king bolt likewise passes tomovably secure the iron 21, thatin turn carries the tongue 22 and evener23, and provides for a free lateral movement of the tongue, as shown bythe dotted lines in Fig. 1. 7

Attached preferably to therear' curved part- 2 1 of the iron 21 is aspring 25 having its rear end connected to the central part of the beam5 in any suitable manner (not shown).

The spring is attached to the draft means and weeder in a manner tendingto advance and rotate the beam about the above I Y ing rigidly attachedto the beam, and by adi mentioned pivotal point, and accomplishes thisby drawing the beam toward the tongue, by the tension of the spring.

It is now obvious that rotating the will also rotate the blade 15, thelatter bevancing the beam on the pivotal point by a strong springtension that the blade will move backward from its greatest maximumdepth directly beneath the beam, to a position to the rear of the beamas shown in Fig. 1, where it is out of the soil entirely, and it is alsoobvious that with a light spring tension, and by forcing the pivotalpoint backward, as by backing the team,

' second instance the point of entry will-be thatthe blade will be drawnout of. the soil in a similar manner, with the exception however, thatin the first instance the point of entry of the blade will be slightlyin advance'of the point of exit, while in the slightly behind the pointof exit as the resistanceoffered tothe rotation of the beam by. the soilwill cause the position of the beam' to change slightly to the rear in amanner that is well understood.

- with its 5 rear end To limitfthe rotative movementaof the blade a stop26 is thereto-'byra chain 29 or the like. By this blade may be arrestedadvance movement of the beam.

beam" application of this provided and this stop" "consists of a bar 27that extends backward from the draft means to rest 011 the beam, 28extended beyond the ",eam in a manner to be flexibly connected Themovement of the blade is further regulated by means of the trailer 4which is rigidly and adjustably attached to the beam by means ofuprights 16 and comprises bars 30 having oneof their ends'pivotallyattached to. the uprights at the point 31, and

the other ends bent to accommodatea trailer wheel 32, the lattercomprising preferably a wooden wheel constructed ofrtwo pieces ofplanking placed together with their grain crossed to provide strengthwith lightness. Obviously the wheel may be a caster wheel if desired,butthis is not necessary as will be positioned forward or back or. thesup;

port as required by the density of the soil, light soil requiring that"the platform be advanced to reduce the weight on the wheel 32. 7

The traileris also provided with an adjusting means comprising diagonalbars 37 that are adjustably attached to the bars 30 by means of bolts 38adapted to engage the bolt holes 39 in the bars, and have their upperends secured'to the top of the uprights.

NVith this means, and by the adjustment of the diagonal bars, the normalthe blade may be regulated.

It. will now be seen that with a spring 25 having sufficient strength,and the weight of the draft means being greater than the trailer, thetrailer will be raised from the ground under normal conditions by thetensionof the spring, but that with the weight of the operator on theplatform the effect of the spring will be counteracted and that theblade will remain in the soil until the weightis removed from theplatform.

"t will also be seen that with the spring merely counterbalancing thewei ht of the trailer that the blade will remain in the ground withoutthe weightof the operator,

It is now obvious that this action -will prevail whether the weeder isconstructed of oneor a plurality of sections, and while what I claimwill cover a single section the principle to a plurality depart ofsections joined together will not from the spirit of the invention.

depth of Where the sections are combined each sec-- tionwill have itsown draft power and this power will preferably be under a singlecontrol, by an operator who will have a position on the running platformbetween thetwo sections, the two ends of the platform being supported inthis case by the respective trailers;

Where a single section is used the platform'will obviously betshortcr,the object of the platform being merely for the operator'to stand on. f

It will be noted in the drawings that the taehed to the end of thesecond beam and positioned vertically to engage the loop,

which coupling will provide for freedom ofv movement in a verticaldirection of the two beams.

In use the blade is adjusted as to, depth of cut by means of thefdiagonalbars 37 on the trailer. that the blade may be withdrawn to anypredetermined point. I

With these adjustments made the weeder is moved to the field to be cut,the trailer being permitted to assume the position shown in Fig. 4during movement, to bring the blade free of theground.

The operator now mounts the riding platform which act forces the bladeinto the ground when the weeder is started over the field and, as theblade comes in contact with the weeds the latter are severed at a pointbelow the surface of the ground.

Now as the blade becomes foul with the cut weeds it will be cleaned bywithdrawing the blade from the ground as above mentioned.

As hinted above there are two methods involved in cleaning the blade,the first by the'use of a relatively strong spring that tends to advancethe beam on the pivotal point as the weight is removed from the trailer,and thus to raise the blade out of the ground whether the team is or isnot in motion; and the second method, by the use of a weaker spring,where pressure is exerted by backing the team against the pivotal pointand thus pressing the blade backward andu'pward.

In the tion, the blade will be reinserted in the ground at a pointslightly in advance of its point of exit, and in the second method thepressure forces the weederbackward so that upon reinserting the bladethe point of entrance is slightly back of the po'int'o'f exit.

Now when the blade is foul the weeds-are folded tightly against bothsides of the blade, but in a manner to permit the blade to be withdrawnfrom between the folds and thus cleaned.

The weeds nowon the blade will have I tendency to raise the blade aboveits normal elevation slightly and this with the back- 7 trailer,

The stop is then adjusted so first method, with the team in'mo-' wardmotion of the weeder will position blade. sothat upon Ireinsertion itscutting edge will pass belowthe lower fold of the weeds, andthusavoidythe'fo-ulmass as the blade reenters'the soil.

By thus entering the bladebaek. or;

original mass the action with regard to the,

Surface of the ground is continuous and the raised portionof the soilthat occurs slightly."

in advance of the blade. during operation is now moved steadily alongas, if the blade had continued in the soil, and the surface of the soilis left as it was originally, 1 r

In turning corners, where the turn is made closej'to some obstacle suchas a fence, that will prevent starting, up, againf-on clean ground, theoperator may remain-on the mit the light wood wheel to ground .as theturn is made. 7

Where the turn is made without obstruction as where one of the wheels6may be backed around on clean ground, the operslide over the ator mayraise the blade out of the ground I to prevent the light trailer wheel.from dragging.

'While a caster wheel wouldremove the necessity of dismounting inturning corners the light wood wheel 32 has been found to worksatisfactorily as the flat surface of the wheel permits it to slidereadily over the y 1 soft ground.

but will advance his weight to per 7 The dotted lines in Fig. lshow theposi- 7 tion of the tongue in turning and the relative position of thespring. The latter of which being attached to the end iron of the tongueat a distance from the king bolt will I normally draw the tongue to astraight ahead position, and complementally will maintain the weeder intrace during operation.

Another effect is to keep the weight off the tongue off from the horsesnecks, forv as the spring is exerting a constant. effort to raise thetrailer off from the ground, the

weight ofthe trailer counteracts this effect and provides a tendency toraise the tongue. Having thus described my invention, I

claim- 1 1. In a weeder, a horizontally supported beam carrying acutting blade rigidly attached thereto for rotatable movement therewith,a draft means pivotally attached to the weeder below the center of saidbeam, a

ins

yielding means attached to said draft,

means, and'to the center of said beam to normally rotate thebeam about,the pivotal point, and a trailer rigidly and adjustably attached to.the beam to counteract the effect 5 of said yielding means. I

'2. In a weeder, ahorizonta-lly supported beam carrying a cutting bladerigidly. at-f tached thereto for rotatable movement there; 1- with,uprights rigidly attached to ande tended above and below the center ofsaid beam, a draft means pivotally attached to,

' the lower end of said uprights, a yielding beam carrying a cuttingblade rigidly attached thereto for rotatable movement with said beam,uprights rigidly attached to and extended above and below the center ofsaid beam, and having their lower ends advanced oifcenter to provide apivotal point, a draft means pivotally attached to said uprights attheir pivotal point, a yielding means attached to said dratt means, andto the beams in afmanner to rotate said beam about the pivotalpoint,means to stop the rotation of said beam at a predetermined point, and atrailer rigidly and adjustably attached to said uprights to counteractthe effect of said yielding means.

4. In a weeder, a horizontally and rotatably supported beam carrying acutting blade rigidly attached thereto and rotatable therewith, a draftmeans pivotally attached to said weeder below the center of said beam tomaintain the blade in the soil, and a trailer adjusting means attachedto said weeder. v y

5. In a weeder, a horizontally and rotatably supported beam carrying acutting blade rigidly attached thereto and rotatable therewith, a draftmeans pivotally attached to said weeder below the center of said beam tomaintain the blade in the: soil, a trailer adjusting means attached tosaid weeder, and means attached to said draft means to countwbalancesaid trailer;

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

' CLAUDE L. KEY.

